Persona: New Revelations
by Twilight Kyu
Summary: A remake of the previous fic. Based on Persona 3 with a few twists. Join the main characters as they investigate the mysterious 'Dark Hour' and to prevent the threat of the Shadows. Featuring MULTI-CROSSOVER.
1. Prologue: Contract

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Persona series or other characters from their respective franchises. They are owned by their respective owners. Also, the OCs that appeared in this story are belonged by their respective owners.**

-/-/-

Hello again, readers.

Welcome to my first story of the Shin Megami Tensei series. Well, technically the second.

You see, this is actually the reboot of my previous Persona fic with the same title. The story remains the same, but to those who are new to the fic, it's basically based on Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, but with mixture of Original Characters owned by different authors and canon characters from different series.

The main characters will be **seven Original Characters** and **seven Canon Characters**.

Like my previous fic, I opened the OC submission for authors to have their OCs star in the story. However, the submission is now closed.

For this chapter, it's merely an introduction chapter so not much characters are introduced here.

So without further ado, let's get it start it!

\-\-I-/-/

_Time never waits.  
It delivers all equally to the same end._

_You, who wish to safeguard the future,_  
_however limited it may be..._

_You will be given a year..._

_Go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide..._

-/-/-

**{Persona}  
-New Revelations-**

-/-/-

**Prologue: Contract**

It is late at night.

You may think it's very dark, but not for a certain city. The lights from lampposts, the buildings, and traffic prevent it from being too dark.

That is where our story begins.

Even at such late hour, the city is quite crowded.

Countless people roam around the streets and cars race across the roads. Many of them are coming out from malls since it's closing time though some stay outside the buildings. Other people hang out at other streets, mainly back alleys and suburban areas.

At the local train station, a young silver-haired boy in a yellow T-Shirt with gray linings and gray short shoes exits from a bullet train. Other than his clothing, he wears a pair of sport shoes and a short gray scarf around his neck. He also carries a bag around his back and a luggage in hand. Lastly and not least, he wears an analogue watch on his left wrist.

The silver-haired boy pulls out a small map from his pocket as he makes his way across the train station into the big city.

-/-

In an unknown location...

A girl with a medium length brown hair in a school uniform is panting heavily. She is in her room leaning against a wall with a tensed expression. What's surprising is the thing she's holding in her hand... A gun.

The girl suddenly lifts the gun and aims it directly at her forehead, seemingly wanting to commit suicide. She closes her eyes preparing to pull the trigger with her index finger though she is hesitated to do so. Her finger slowly moves.

Before the brown-haired girl can pull the trigger, her other hand suddenly raises and pulls down her hand. Shortly afterwards, she drops the gun. The girl drops on her knees as she sighs out of relief.

The brown-haired girl then turns her attention to the gun on the floor. "I... I can't do it..." she whispers to herself as she picks the gun up and puts the weapon onto her pocket.

Suddenly, someone enters the girl's door.

"I need you to do something for me."

-/-

The boy's destination leads him throughout the city until he reaches a suburban street, where it is much quieter than the rest. Not to mention, it's less crowded.

As soon as the boy passes the middle of the suburbs, his watch reaches midnight. From that very moment, the lights in the street and the houses around the boy suddenly go out.

"Huh?"

The boy immediately notices, not just the sudden light out, but the environment around him. The sky and the third quarter moon turn shades of green. While the boy is disturbed by the sudden changes, he's unaware that the people he passed by have transformed into coffins.

He doesn't turn around to inspect the phenomena. Instead, he moves forward to his destination.

In fact, he's getting closer according to the map.

It takes a few minutes to reach his destination. There he is, the boy stands in front of a large gate. Beyond it lies an incredibly large campus; an academy to be exact. This place is known as... Marahara Academy.

-/-

Strangely enough, there are no guards stationed in front of the gate. That leaves the boy wonder the guards' whereabouts.

Placing both his luggage and bag on the ground, the boy inspects the gate. It is locked up tight. There's no way he can get in without someone like a staff member to unlock it. By looking at various buildings beyond the gate, he notice that the lights are also out similar in the streets.

All the sudden, the boy feels a presence behind. A shadowy figure stands right behind the silver-haired boy not too far. Quick to react, the boy bravely turns around with his hands up close his face, preparing to defend whatever is behind him.

Nothing is there.

The boy is quite surprised, especially the presence suddenly vanished. What was it, he thought.

He decides to turn around facing back at the gate.

"You're late."

The boy jumps when he finds someone standing in front of the gate, staring down at the former. "I've been waiting a long time for you," The figure appears to be a small boy with short black hair, carrying a red notebook in his hands. Hey may appear as an ordinary boy in the eyes of a man, but there's one distinct feature that clearly shows he's not human; his eyes have no pupils.

"No need to be alert," the little boy smiles prompting silver-haired to calm down.

"Now if you want to proceed, please sign your name there," the notebook suddenly disappears from the little boy's hands as it appears in front of the silver-haired. The red notebook is levitated in midair air.

"Contract?" the silver-haired boy asks.

"Don't worry, all it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff," the small boy said to the silver-haired.

The silver-haired boy is quite disturbed by the mysterious figure. Not to mention, he is suspicious with the so-called 'contract.' Eventually, he decides to play along. He takes out a pen from his bag and writes his name on the red notebook...

_**Kyros Tazanuki**_  
That's his name...

After writing his name on the page, the notebook suddenly disappears right before his eyes. He soon notices that the notebook has returned to the small boy's hands.

"No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end," the little boy still has the disturbing smile written on his face, "You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." Suddenly, darkness begin to appear behind the little boy as it slowly envelops his body but his right hand.

The mysterious boy raises his hand and directs it at the silver-haired boy, Kyros. The former disappears, but not before saying the following.

"And so it begins..."

* * *

Kyros stares blankly, not so sure of the event that has just happened. From that moment, the sky turns dark once again and the lights are back.

The silver-haired boy is befuddled upon seeing his surroundings revert to normal.

"Hey, you there!" a voice suddenly shouts. Kyros turns to the front and finds a security guard, who appears in his late twenties, approaching the gate. "Is your name Kyros Tazanuki?" the guard asks.

"Yeah, that's me," the silver-haired boy answers.

"Ah, good. Glad you made it," the guard said as he unlocks the gate.  
"Sorry if you've been outside for too long. Our boss just called us and he told us to watch out for a new student," the guard tells Kyros.

Once the gate opens, the guard allows Kyros to enter with his bag and luggage.

Kyros takes the time to look at the huge place in awe. There are four buildings surrounding a single building that is a bit larger than the said buildings. Beyond the five buildings is a small district. For an academy, this is surprisingly a huge place.

The guard then tells Kyros that the four buildings surrounding the center building are actually the dorms: West, East, North, and South. The center building is none other than the school building.

If it's this big, who knows how many students, teachers, and staff members are in the academy.

The guard soon notices a girl approaching the gate. Even though it's quite dark, the lamppost lightens the area a bit. Once the girl is in clear view, the guard is able to recognized her, both her face and her appearance. In terms of appearance, she is quite normal and not so special. People tend to call her plain, but that's something she dislikes the most.

"Is he the new student?" the girl asks the guard as she points at Kyros, who in turn, looks at her.

"That's right," the young security guard replies.

"Uuhh... Hi," Kyros waves his hand at the girl, "My name is Kyros Tazanuki. You are?"

The girl smiles.

"_**Kurumi**_," She reaches out her hand prompting Kyros to shake hands, "_**Kurumi Momose**_. Welcome to Marahara Academy."

\-\-I-/-/

**End of Chapter**

A/N: That's the end of the prologue. Hope you enjoy it. Sorry if the prologue is quite short, but the next chapter will be even longer as we'll be introduced to various characters that appear in this fic. Not to mention, some of the main characters.

So far, the characters that make their debut in this chapter are:  
- _**Kyros Tazanuki**_, my OC  
- _**Kurumi Momose**_, a character from the manga series, **Pani Poni**

So until then, see you next time!

**-X-**

_**Preview**_

I am a new student of Marahara Academy and the first semester is about to begin.

Quite an interesting one, I must say. The students, the teachers... They're all pretty interesting.

What I don't know is the strange phenomena surrounding the academy and the city. The secrets that await me to discover them.

Next chapter: **Welcome to Marahara Academy**.


	2. Welcome to Marahara Academy

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Persona series or other characters from their respective franchises. They are owned by their respective owners. Also, the OCs that appeared in this story are belonged by their respective owners.**

-/-/-

Hello again, readers.

Well, it's finally here. The story has finally begun. Be warn, there are going to be TONS of characters from different series here.

Without further ado, let's start!

\-\-I-/-/

Chapter 1: Welcome to Marahara Academy

_March 25, 2012  
Sunday  
-3 days until Full Moon-_

Now it's really late at night. The evening sky is quite lovely.

Kurumi takes the new student, Kyros, a brief tour around the academy's grounds. Well, mostly the road toward the building in the west. Said building is actually a dorm. It's quite huge as expected.

The academy has a lot of students so it makes sense to build dorms for the students to stay. In this case, there are four dorms. There is something that differs the dorms from outside the academy but we'll get to that later. The dorms surround the huge building in the center, which is actually the school building.

Just near the school building is a slightly smaller building; it's actually the gym.

Beyond the school building and even the northern dorm, there is a slightly large district.

Kyros will be staying at the West Dorm.

While on the road, the new student can see many plants grown at the sides of the road. Other than that, he also sees some trees around the areas, which makes it slightly resemble a forest.

It's quite peaceful, really.

-/-

"Aaanndd here we are," Kurumi suddenly speaks.

The pair is now in front of the dorm. The building is slightly big. Kyros can tell that there are a lot of rooms just by looking at the number of windows. Surprisingly, some of the lights are still on, indicating there are students still awake at this hour. The exterior design is fairly good with the placement of flowers and the curtains.

Kyros smiles noting that the dorm seems nice. Hopefully, it's also nice inside.

"Huh?" The silver-haired boy notices that Kurumi is slowly approaching the dorm.

"Excuse me, Kurumi," the boy calls out to gain her attention. "Is this the girls dorm or the boys' dorm?"

"No, it's not. It's... Uuhh..." Kurumi becomes silent. The dorms have a special rule that distinguishes them from other dorms outside the academy, but unfortunately, the plain girl isn't very good at explaining certain things to Kyros.

While trying to figure out a good way to explain about the dorms, another feminine voice calls out in Kurumi's place.

"That's because the dorms in this academy are co-ed! That's right, boys and girls living under the same roof!"

Alarmed, Kyros and Kurumi turn toward the voice.

The new student finds an attractive girl with brown eyes and shoulder-length hair in a sailor fuku. She's more attractive than Kurumi, to say the least. The girl also wears a yellow ribbon/hair band on her hair. Just by looking at her school uniform, Kyros can tell that she's from the academy.

"Ah, Iinchou!" Kurumi immediately salutes.

"So you're the new student, Kyros Tazanuki?" the girl leans closer to the boy before she reaches out her hand. "I'm _**Haruhi Suzumiya**_, class president! Pleasure to meet ya!"

After a brief glance, Kyros shakes Haruhi's hand.

"Now tell me, why did you sign up for Marahara Academy?" Haruhi flats out said it, much to Kyros' slight surprise. That's something only a fan girl would do.

Kurumi sighs.

"_Here she goes again_," Kurumi thought.

"Well..." Kyros pauses for a moment, "I used to live at Shibuya until my parents found their jobs here in this city. They heard about this academy so they thought I should enroll here."

From that moment, Haruhi's optimistic behavior slowly changes to a gloomy one. In fact, she's disappointed with Kyros' reason he entered Marahara Academy in the first place. Painfully ordinary, as she thought.

"Momose-san," Haruhi turns at the other ordinary girl, "You remember where his room is, so escort him now. I still got more important stuff to take care of."

Haruhi then storms off back to the dorm, leaving Kyros and Kurumi alone. The former is befuddled by Haruhi's sudden mood change.

"What's up with her?" Kyros asks Kurumi.

"Well, it's... It's kinda complicating. It's just that at times, she can be friendly, but then she can be quite rude. I really don't get her," Kurumi answers while rubbing the back of her head.

"Anyway, your things should already be at your room. Follow me, I'll show you the way," the girl then approaches the door and opens it. She turns her attention to the new student with a smile. "Shall we?"

Kyros and Kurumi enter the dorm's lounge. The room is quite big. It is completed with a set of tables, sofas, and a carpet to make it more of a home than a dorm. Not to mention, they also have a television.

To the south is the dorm's entrance, where Kyros and Kurumi now stand. To the right side is the kitchen. They even have a table for the kitchen along with other kitchen appliances and knives. To the north is a set of staircases.

According to Kurumi, there are about 5 floors in each dorm.

Since it's really late, most of the lights are off except for the lamps on the tables. Kurumi then leads Kyros up the stairs until they reach the third floor.

The lights are still on in the floor, so it's easier for the pair to make their way across the hallway. There are a lot of hundreds in both sides of the hallways.

Eventually, they reach the end of the eastern hallway where they find the door with the label number '216.'

"This is it, your room," Kurumi said as she takes the said room key from her pocket. She gives it to Kyros. "Pretty easy to remember, right? And don't lose your key or you'll be in big trouble, okay?" The silver-haired boy nods as a response.

"And that concludes our tour! There are other places that you haven't seen, but I'll take you there tomorrow. So any questions?"

Upon hearing Kurumi's last line, the thing that pops in Kyros' mind is the mysterious child he encountered at the academy's gate. The boy is about to ask about the child and the so-called contract until he suddenly has second thoughts about it. Could it be just a mere hallucination? After all, he is exhausted from his long trip to the academy. Then again, it felt a bit real to begin with.

After giving some thoughts about it, Kyros decides not to ask Kurumi about the child and just keeps it. Not to mention, he has a feeling that Kurumi doesn't know the answer.

The teenager kindly shakes his head sideways.

"Okay then," Kurumi said with a smile, "Try to get some rest. There's not gonna be much lessons tomorrow, just some introductions to our teachers, classes, and rules. Y'know, that kind of stuff. The opening ceremony starts at 8 o'clock, but you should wake at seven. We'll go together at that time."

"Eh? Why that early?" Kyros asks with a befuddled look.

"Well, I could tell you why, but that's something you should see it with your own eyes. Otherwise, you wouldn't believe me," Kurumi bluntly said.

It's something that he must see with his own eyes? Well, that is something. Something suspicious, of course. Lucky for Kyros, he has just arrived at the academy and a girl already asks him to go together as if they were on a date.

For now, he decides to listen to her.

All the sudden, Kurumi pauses with a rather worried look written on her face.

"Umm..." Kurumi finally speaks up in a weak tone. "Can I ask you something?"

"Huh? Sure."

"On your way here from the station, was everything okay?" Kurumi asks.

Kyros raises his eyebrow with a befuddled look. Is she talking about the strange occurrence earlier? Is it about the sudden blackout in the street and the moon's color turned into shades of green?

The new student looks at Kurumi directly at her eyes. Just by a mere glance, the boy can tell that the girl wants a straightforward answer.

Before Kyros can respond, Kurumi suddenly backs out with an apologetic look. "S-Sorry, forget what I just said. I guess everything's alright."

"Well, I gotta go now. I'll see you tomorrow at seven, okay? Good night." Kurumi then leaves the hallway with a faint smile.

Afterwards, Kyros turns at his room's door and unlocks it. He enters.

His room is a little small, but comfortable to live in. It's fairly empty with nothing but a cozy bed, a desk, and a closet. There's also a window near the desk completed with a set of curtains. Surprisingly, the room has its own bathroom.

Just how much money did they spend to make this huge academy? Usually, dorms have separate bathrooms that most students have to share, but this one is a completely different story.

His stuffs are also there in the form of suitcases.

As much as he likes to unpack his things, it's already late and he has to get to the school building first thing in the morning. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

* * *

_March 26, 2012  
Monday  
__-2 days until Full Moon-_

**-Marahara Academy-**

**West Dorm**

It's exactly seven in the morning.

Kyros has already taken a shower and he's now in his school uniform.

The school uniform for the boys is dark blue color. The top has a standing collar buttoning down from top-to-bottom while the pants are straight leg and a dark-colored belt is worn with them. The uniform has a collar pin, which has the symbol of two shields in the form of an X. Lastly, the kanji words of Marahara are written in between the shields.

Since there's not much study to work on for the first day of school, the new student doesn't have to bring any books.

Kyros also opens up the curtains, allowing the fresh morning sun to reflect inside the room.

The new student then looks at his empty room and his luggage. He plans that after school, he'll unpack everything.

After much preparation, the silver-haired is ready to leave for the school building until he hears someone knocking on his door.

"That must be Kurumi," Kyros utters to himself.

The silver-haired boy makes his way to the door and unlocks it. However, it's not Kurumi Momose knocking the door as he had expected. Instead, it's someone else.

"Good morning! Maho!"

It turns out to be a girl slightly smaller than Kurumi. She has blue hair, but what distinguishes her from other girls is her ahoge, the lock of hair on her head. The word also means 'foolish hair.' Like Haruhi, she wears the girls' school uniform, the sailor fuku.

Kyros leans backward in surprised as the blue-haired girl suddenly approaches him closely.

"You're the new student from last night, right?" the girl asks in an excited tone. It's not so bad if someone greeted you in close distance, but for this girl, it's far too close. Kyros is rather uneasy as a result.

"Uuhh... Yeah, I guess that's me," he said reluctantly.

In response, the girl grabs Kyros' right hand and shakes his hand rapidly. "It's great to meet you, maho! Kurumi told me about you this morning!" the blue-haired girl said in a fast pace and excited tone. She has a bright look on her face for meeting the student. A brief shake is enough, but for this girl? She continuously shakes Kyros' hand for more than a minute.

Kyros drops a large sweat from the back of his head.

Kurumi eventually arrives at the room.

"Himeko! What're you doing?!" Kurumi yells, which gains the girl's full attention. The latter immediately looks at the former as she let go of the silver-haired boy's hand.

"Ah, Kurumi-san! Glad you can make it!" the girl cheerfully waves her hand at Kurumi. "I'm just making friends with the new guy, maho!"

"Ma... Maho?" Kyros utters the word.

"S-Sorry if she caused trouble, Kyros-san," Kurumi said apologetically as she bows her head.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I was just finished getting ready to go," Kyros said back with a faint smile before he turns his attention to the hyperactive girl. "So your name is Himeko?"

"Yup!" the girl shouts energetically as she raises her right arm. "_**Himeko Katagiri**_! Pleasure to meetcha!"

"Oh, oh, now that you're here, you really gotta know this!" Himeko immediately turns her attention to Kurumi, "Last night at the East Dorm, Fuyuki-san was telling this super scary ghost story and it totally scared Miyako and Rei! They didn't get enough sleep because of that, maho!"

Kurumi chuckles.  
"Really? Even Rei-san?" she asks.

"Yeah! But I thought the ghost story's kinda cute! Omega kawaii!" Himeko said with her hands placed on her cheeks while shaking her head sideways, in a rather cute way. In Himeko's thoughts, she imagines the scary ghost story in, not a horror style, but in a rather adorable scenario coming from a kid's flick. Even the background is a soft, green hill with butterflies flying around.

Kyros merely stares at the wastefully hyperactive girl. Is she for real? Never in his life he has ever met someone who's truly full of energy, but at the same time, a moron.

Kurumi then calls Kyros' name to gain his attention. "So did you sleep well?" she kindly asks, to which the boy nods as an answer.

"Great! So we're ready to go now?"

Hearing the word 'we,' Kyros turns his attention to Himeko once again, who's currently in her own little world. "Yes, she's coming too," Kurumi immediately said as she knows exactly what Kyros is going to ask just by looking at his expression.

Afterwards, Kyros locks his room before he and the girls leave the dorm.

**School Building**

"Here we are."

Kurumi leads Kyros to the large building in the center of the academy with Himeko tagging along.

They make their way through the long pathway leading directly to the building. In both left and right sides of the path, there are beautiful gardens; arranged with flowers in pots and decorated in patterns. At the end of the pathway is the large gate, leading to the school building.

The school ground has a small, empty space. It also has a decorated garden with a slightly large tree in the middle of it. The tree itself isn't just an ordinary tree, it grows beautiful sakura. Beneath the tree is a bench. In the opposite direction of the tree is a small clock tower.

Kyros and Kurumi are now standing in the entrance while Himeko playfully runs around the the tree chasing a butterfly.

The new kid stares at the building in awe. That is until he notices that there aren't many people in the school ground. Students, to be more specific. There are approximately two or three teachers inside the building. He checks the clock nearby and finds that it's almost half past eight.

"Hey," Kyros turns his attention to Kurumi, "Aren't we a bit too early?"

"Oh, you'll see it," Kurumi raises her right arm and looks at her wristwatch, "In 3... 2... 1..."

From that moment, they begin to hear loud footsteps. Just by the sound of it, there seemingly a lot of people coming. It even sounds like a stampede.

"Hey, who's that?" Himeko suddenly speaks up whilst pointing at the gate. Kyros turns at the direction and sees a teenager in the boys' school uniform. His facial appearance is rather simple, he has short brown hair and green eyes. The only unique feature is the noticeable spike sticking out on the top of his head, similar to Himeko.

Kyros notices the stressed look on the boy's face as he continues to run faster, which makes him wondering why. He immediately gets his answer when he sees TONS of people behind the boy.

Hundreds of students race across the pathway and the way they move is truly like a stampede, in a comical sort of manner. The crazy thing about the students is that their choice of getting to the school building. While most prefers by foot, many of them uses skateboards, bicycles, and even roller blades.

They eventually reach the building and crash into the shoe lockers.

The students are varied and interesting to note.

The first ones who easily enter the building are actually ninjas.

One of them is a tall girl and is almost always seen with her eyes closed. She seemingly has short green hair, but it's actually as she ties her hair thin in a ponytail hair style. There's also another girl with a slim, athletic build while her hair is held back tightly in a topknot that drops well below her waist. Like the rest of the students, they wear the school uniforms.

The next ones are the boys with athletic builds.

The notable one is a large, muscular teenager whose notable feature is his red-colored hair. The muscular teenager is seen holding a gym bag. The bag is slightly opened, exposing a basketball shoe inside it.

Another one is rather normal in terms of appearance much like the boy from earlier, with the only difference is his short black hair. Like the muscular teenager, he also carries around a gym bag.

Then another comes rushing into the building's entrance. He has an orange-colored hair that's spiked upward. Like the previous two athletes, he carries a gym bag. Also, like the muscular teenager, his bag is slightly open, exposing a jersey inside it.

Four particular girls easily enter through the entrance without any difficulty. They're an interesting bunch as they're from different sports, yet they stick together as if they're sisters.

One of them is a cute girl with pink hair tied in short pigtails. One is rather small with a weak body and has a light blue hair. She is seen carrying some medical supplies. The next girl has a confident look on her face. She has short red hair with her hair knotted to the right. Like the athletic boys, she carries a gym bag. The last girl is quite tall and has a very calm look on her face. She has a long, dark brown hair that is knotted in a ponytail. In addition, she has long bangs on both sides.

In a blink of an eye, a young boy who, oddly enough, is not wearing the school uniform but a butler's outfit. The teenager has medium-length light blue hair in a bob cut. He carries a short girl with long blonde hair tied in two long pigtails. Unlike the teenage boy, the girl wears the school uniform.

"RELEASE THE CRITIC!" A rather hyperactive, yet crazy teenager storms into the school's entrance in a hilarious fashion, running down two 'background' students. "YUKI, COME BACK HERE!" A certain grumpy girl with glasses also storm into the building, chasing the crazy teen. Her brown hair is tied in a ponytail with a ribbon.

Another student also manages to reach inside safely. He appears to have black, spiky hair and wears a jacket with a video game controller on the back of it. Underneath his jacket is the school uniform. In addition, he wears glasses and a headband with the Japanese words for 'Number One' written on it.

Next, a female student about average height rushes in after the previous one. She has a rather athletic build with toned muscles and a lean figure. She is fair-skinned but has a rosy complexion. As for her hair, it's quite messy; a wild mess of copper that curls and reaches her shoulders with the bangs held back with a thin headband.

Afterwards, the rest of the students look rather normal. Among them is a 'normal' student who's close friends with Haruhi.

Another one is a boy who bears resemblance to Kurumi Momose, possibly a relative.

Another includes a teenaged boy of Chinese heritage with short, slightly spiked brown hair and a lithesome body shape. His eyes are amber. Next to the Chinese student is a cute teenaged girl with short light brown hair and a slim body. Her eyes are green. She's actually very close to the said boy.

Surprisingly, not even one is injured during the stampede. Kyros and Kurumi casually step aside allowing hordes of students to enter the building. As for Himeko, she just stays near the sakura tree while watching the wild crowd entering the school building.

"Wow, omega awesome!" that's the only thing she says in an excited tone.

Kyros stares at stampeding students in awe. Now he realizes what Kurumi meant last night. He slowly turns his attention to her. "You see?" Kurumi asks as she smiles with her eyes closed.

As soon as the students are now inside the building, the trio soon notices that the boy from earlier isn't lucky at all. The hordes have trampled him.

"Ouch... That's gotta hurt," Kyros cringes.

Suddenly, three girls arrive at the school in time, running in such speed. "W-We're there!" a lively yet bubbly girl shouts while raising her fist in the air.

"Eh?" they simultaneously stop when they feel they step on something soft. They look at each other, wondering what it is. They soon look down and find that they step on the poor, trampled boy.

"Who's he?" one the three girls, a slightly tall girl with short brown hair and green eyes, asks.

"That's just the new guy who just arrived yesterday morning," a short girl with long blue hair. She also wears a white hairband.

The tall girl begins to smile mischievously while looking down at the trampled kid, mostly at his ahoge hair. Before she can do something to the already unfortunate kid, the lively girl notices Kurumi and she waves her hand at her. "Kurumi-san, good morning!" she shouts in a lively manner. It interrupts the tall girl's actions as she turns her attention to Kurumi.

"Morning to you too, Izumi-san! Miki-san! Risa-san!" Kurumi shouts back.

"You know them?" Kyros then asks. Kurumi nods in response.

"Sure do. We were in the same class last year," Kurumi said as the three girls approach her and the new student.

"So you're a new student too?" the lively girl asks, to which Kyros nods in response.

"Nice to meet you," she immediately bows her head, "My name's _**Izumi Segawa**_. It's nice to meet you!"

"_**Miki Hanabishi**_."  
"_**Risa Asakaze**_."

"Nice to meet you too," Kyros also bows his head toward the three, "I'm Kyros Tazanuki."

Right exactly after the introduction, a loud voice suddenly calls out the trio; it's coming from beyond the building's entrance. They all turn around and find Haruhi Suzumiya in the shoe lockers. "You guys! Stop hogging with the new kid and hurry up! We got important things to take care of!"

"Yes, Iincho!" the trio shouts while saluting.

Izumi immediately enters the building, but not before waving at the new student. "We'll see you again, Kyra-kun!"

"So long, Kyra-kun," Miki also said as she casually walks into the school building.

"Girls..." Kyros said with a large sweat dropping from the back of his head, "It's Kyros-kun, not Kyra-kun..."

"Whatever, Kyra-kun," The last of the trio suddenly said as she casually walks pass him, much to the new boy's dismay.

"And Kurumi-san," Risa turns around and looks directly at her, "Enjoy the new kid! Flirt him all you want," she shouts with a grin before she leaves with her friends.

"H-Hey! It's not like that!" Kurumi suddenly shouts with her cheeks turning a bit red. Her friend has just made things more awkward for her and the new student. She groans.

"_She really doesn't change a bit..._"

Kurumi quickly glances at Kyros. "S-Sorry about it, just forget what she said, okay?"

Kyros nods.

"By the way... Is he okay?"

Kyros looks at the poor boy who's still pinned on the ground. He's not alone, however, as Himeko is right there with him. Instead of helping him, Himeko playfully pokes at the boy's ahoge while humming "Maho" repeatedly.

In a few seconds, both Kyros and Kurumi help the boy up and fixes his clothes.

"T-Thanks," the boy said humbly as he nods.

"Umm... You're..." Kurumi utters.

The boy soon notices Kyros.

"Oh, you're the new student from last night, right?" the boy reaches out his hand, "My name is _**Makoto Naegi**_. Nice to meet you."

"Kyros Tazanuki," the new student said his name as he shakes Naegi's hand, "Nice to meet you too."

"I'm Kurumi. Kurumi Momose," the plain girl said as she also shakes Naegi's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Naegi-san."

"So... You three got here early?" Naegi asks as he looks at Kurumi, then at Kyros, and lastly at Himeko.

"Yeah. To avoid THAT," Kurumi said as she points her thumb at the doorway entrance. "Almost every morning."

"S-Seriously?" Naegi shudders.

"But fun, maho!" Himeko suddenly appears next to Naegi, shouting. It surprises the latter causing him to jump.

"They oughta make a competition! Whoever reaches the finish line first gets the prize! Like a steam crab!" Himeko blurts out. She's in her own little world again as she imagines tasty steam crabs serve in a silver plate. Her ahoge somewhat wags as if an animal is wagging its tail.

Kyros and Naegi are befuddled to see her. The boys look at Kurumi. Just by looking at their faces, she can tell that they deman explanation over Himeko's odd behavior.

"She's always like this," Kurumi chuckles.

"We should go inside now. We don't want to be late in our first day, do we?" she asks as she looks at the clock. It is now 7:40 in the morning.

With that in mind, the four of them enters the school building.

-/-

It's only a few minutes away until the ceremony.

Everyone - including the students, teachers, and staff members - have gathered around in the auditorium.

The school building has four floors and a basement. Most classes are in the second, third, and fourth floors while the faculty office is at the second floor. The basement is for the cafeteria. As for the auditorium, it's in the first floor.

The students, both seniors and underclassmen, are at the seats in the large room while the said teachers and staff employees are at the stage in the front.

It's very surprising because the amount number of the students is really many that they completely cover the entire seats. Since there are a lot of them, the teachers' assistants have to be seated among them in order to keep them in line.

There are a lot of interesting teens at their respective seats, similar to the ones earlier.

Among them is another tall girl whose skin is tanned with long, black hair to say the least. Her eyes are red. Seated next to her is a quiet girl who also has tanned skin. She's much smaller than the other girl, with the differences are the marks below her eyes and her hair of white. As for her eyes, they're yellow. They're both seated in the back rows.

One particular student in the back rows is a certain male student with brown hair and has a relaxed smile written on his face. In fact, he always keeps a smile. Currently, he's chatting casually with the 'normal' student and the other student who resembles Kurumi.

Behind the three male students, there's a boy who has a very frail body with black hair followed by a pointed hair horn from the back. His eyes are dark blue. The boy has quite a fascination with the occult.

The frail boy is talking to a dowdy boy that wears thick glasses. The pair of glasses somewhat have swirling spirals on each glass. Strangely, he can still see through them.

While the dowdy student listens to the frail boy about the supernatural, he doesn't seem to be interested but he just listen. The only one who's interested with his explanation with the paranormal is a certain girl. She's very short and has long dark blue hair that's styled in a hime cut. Strangely enough, she wears a kimono unlike the rest of the students.

In the middle rows, there's a certain student with a very strong, muscular built among them. His skin is slightly tanned, has red eyes, and has black spiky hair that reaches his shoulder. In addition, he has a small scar on his right cheek. He's also quite tall.

Seated next to the large student is a girl who has long, red-brown hair that reaches her shoulders with two strips of her bangs dyed pink and red. Her height is average to say the least. Her skin is a little pale and petite. As for her eyes, they're dark green.

Among the students in the middle rows is a male student with short, disheveled, dark brown hair. He has blue eyes and a stubble beard. He always has a tired look in his eyes, but somewhat stay awake. In addition, he wears a pair of headphones.

Also among the middle rows, a girl with two long pigtails - knotted with a pair of bells - is chatting with two girls, her best friends. They're both girls. One is a cute girl with long, dark brown hair and brown eyes. The other has black, ponytailed hair and brown eyes.

Somewhere in the front rows, there's a girl with light red hair. She always carries around a digital camera in her hand.

The attractive red-haired girl is chatting with two of her friends. They're both girls. One is a cocky and cheerful person who's almost always seen smiling. She has light green hair and purple eyes. In reality, she's actually skilled in judo. The other one is a cheerful and outgoing girl with shoulder-length pink hair (knotted with a small bun) and brown eyes.

Also seated in the front rows is a certain male student who is left handed. He has strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes.

Among the students in the front rows are five particular girls, discussing about their plans for recruits.

Now for the teachers. Like the students, they're quite an interesting bunch. All the male teachers wear green uniforms while the women wear blue dress with long skirt.

They all sit on a vertical line of chairs.

The most famous among them is a certain teacher with short blond hair. The teacher is actually a former member of a gang. Seated next to the teacher is a tall man of serious and extremely perceptive. He has red eyes and black hair that complicatedly spiked up.

What's very interesting is that two of the teachers are actually younger than the teen students. One is a little boy who graduates from England and is very polite for his age. He also wears glasses. The other one is a little girl with long blond hair. She graduates from Massachusetts. Unlike the boy, she's mature at times like most 11-year-olds.

Seated next to the child teachers is a young woman who has short green hair and yellow eyes. On her head is a sort of dot. People who know her said that she loves to drink (well, too much drink).

Next to the woman is a tall, lean-built man with light skin and gray eyes. His hair is rather messy for a teacher and it's light blond with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes. He also has a chin stubble. In addition, he wears a white bucket hat, which usually shadows his eyes).

The next are two female teachers. One appears to be very gentle while the other appears rather emotionless.

Seated next to the emotionless teacher is a young man with short wavy blond hair and blue eyes.

Next to the young man is a slender, dark-skinned woman with golden eyes. She has a long purple hair tied in a ponytail.

Anyway, Kyros is seated in the middle row alongside Kurumi, Naegi, and Himeko.

It is time for meeting to start as the academy dean enters the stage and to the podium. The podium is ready with a microphone and a glass of water. The dean is actually a very old man. His white beard and even his eyebrows are long. While he is bald, he has his long hair knotted in a ponytail.

"Greetings, fellow students. I am the academy dean, _**Konoemon Konoe**_," the old dean speaks in the microphone, "Welcome to Marahara Academy."

"I'm sure that all of you new students would really like it here in Marahara. As you begin the new school year, I'd like each of you to remember..."

Dean Konoemon continues with his speech.

…

The speech goes on for quite a while; it's very long as one can imagine.

Some of the students begin to get bored of the long speech though there are some who are paying intently with the dean.

"Kurumi-san," Naegi whispers at the plain girl, "Does his speech always this long?"

"Sadly... Yeah," Kurumi sighs.

"Tell me about it, it feels like an hour," Kyros utters.

"I hear talking," a feminine voice suddenly calls out in a quiet tone. The trio is slightly jumped as they discover that the voice is actually one of the assistants.

"You three, please stop talking. Do you want to get yourselves in trouble?" she asks the three students in a gentle tone.

Kyros, Naegi, and Kurumi shake their heads sideways in silence.

After five minutes, the dean is finally done with his long speech and turns his attention to his fellow teachers. "Everyone, meet your teachers."

The teachers stand up and introduce themselves one by one.

"_**Eikichi Onizuka**_, 22 years old, nice to meet you all!" the teacher raises his fist.

"_**Kurogane**_," the tall teacher bluntly said his name.

"My name is _**Negi Springfield**_, I hope we can get along," the 10-year-old boy said as he bows his head.

"_**Rebecca Miyamoto**_, graduated from MIT," the little girl bluntly said.

"_**Yukiji Katsura**_! Pleasure to meet ya!" the drink-loving woman exclaims.

"Name's _**Kisuke Urahara**_," the slick man said to the audience.

"Good morning, everyone. My name is _**Mutsuki Ichimonji**_," a beautiful, elegant woman bows in a lady-like manner.

"_**Kisaragi Ninomai**_," the next teacher said in an emotionless tone.

"_**Char Aznable**_. Nice to meet you all," the next teacher said as he bows his head.

"_**Yoruichi Shiōin**_. Pleasure to meet you all," the dark-skinned teacher said.

Other teachers soon follow as they properly introduce themselves.

Kyros glances at the teachers, noting each one of them. He does find all of them interesting. Like most students in the room, he's wondering how Negi and Becky manage to become teachers despite their ages.

With that done, Konoemon finishes the last of his speech and wishes everyone a good time of the year.

Now everyone gets to go and see their classes, but more importantly, they get to see which classes they're assigned to.

-/-

Now the students are free to look around the school building as long as they want, but they absolutely must find out their assigned classes.

The students can also see various clubs around the academy. While the recruitment isn't today, the clubs thought that by demonstrating their respective activities, they might be able to convince the newer students to join in.

Kyros, Naegi, Kurumi, and Himeko are at Class 2-C located in the second floor. The homeroom teacher is none other than Onizuka.

The four checks at the student at the bulletin board in front of the class' door. This particular board shows the list of students that are assigned in Class 2-C.

The assigned students are in the following.  
- Kyros Tazanuki  
- Rex Akamura  
- Kurumi Momose  
- Makoto Naegi  
- Kazumi Asakura  
- Akira Okouchi  
- Kazuhiko Aikawa  
- Sakuya Aizawa  
- Kyon

How unfortunate, Himeko isn't in this class.

"Well... Looks like we're not gonna be in the same class this time," Kurumi said in a disappointed tone. She turns at her friend. Himeko, on the other hand, stays cheerful as ever. "It's not a big loss! We can still see again after class, maho!"

All the sudden, someone yells Himeko's name. The four turn at the class door. They find an energetic girl waving at them. She has dark brown hair and brown eyes. In terms of personality, she's about to energetic and hyperactive like Himeko, though a bit hot-tempered.

"Aha, Tomo-san!" Himeko waves back at the girl.

"Who's she?" Naegi asks Kurumi.

"That's _**Tomo Takino**_. She's friends with Himeko even though they're from different classes," Kurumi explains.

"I've been looking aalll over for you!" Tomo shouts as she suddenly approaches Himeko in a split of seconds.

"Ah, hello Kurumi-san! Looking plain as ever!" Tomo suddenly shouts cheerfully at Kurumi.

Plain...  
That's something that Kurumi detests.

It immediately puts Kurumi under depression. She turns toward the corner and begins to sulk while humming repeatedly, "Rararu..."

Kyros and Naegi stare at Kurumi, befuddled with her sudden change of behavior.

"Guess what? We're at the same class!" Tomo announces the surprise at Himeko.

"You serious?!" Himeko shouts in excitement.

"Seriously! This is just great, y'know!"  
"That's omega awesome!"

"C'mon, you gotta see who's in class!" Tomo then turns her attention at Kurumi who's still sulking at the corner, "Good to see ya too, Kurumi-san! I'll see you later!"

Both girls immediately run out of the classroom, but not before Himeko waves Kurumi goodbye.

After Himeko leaves, Kyros turns around as he decides to look around the classroom. As for Naegi, he tries to snap Kurumi back to reality. Unfortunately, she keeps sulking and humming at the corner.

The class is quite clean and orderly with the student desks aligned in straight lines. To the front is where the teacher's desk is placed and the white board behind it. The windows are in the right side of the room. As for the door, it's in the left side at the uttermost front.

Kyros continues to inspect the classroom, noting its well-designed interior.

"What's up?" a student suddenly greets Kyros. The student appears to be quite tall with short, black spiky hair and black eyes.

"Uuh, hi," the new kid greets back.

"You're the new guy from last night, right? You're... Kyros Tazanuki," the student pauses, waiting for Kyros' answer. The silver-haired boy nods. "Great. I'm _**Rex Akamura**_."

"I know how tough it is being a new kid. I moved into this academy a year ago. Let me tell you, it's really not bad here. In fact, you probably might enjoy it," Rex said to Kyros in a friendly manner.

"Word of advice: Expect everything, 'cause a lot of people here are crraaaaazzyyy!"

Rex soon notices Kurumi sulking at the corner of the wall.

"Oh, it's her..."

"You know Kurumi-san?" Kyros asks.  
"Yeah, we've been in the same class before. She's not really keen with someone calling her plain," Rex explains to Kyros.

Kyros silently nods. He does feel sorry for Kurumi.

Suddenly, Izumi Segawa enter the classroom. "Kurumi-san!" she then walks directly toward the sulking girl at the corner. Naegi backs away as soon as Izumi approaches. "Mana-san's looking for you! She needs to talk to you and the everyone from the archery club about the recruitment!"

"R-Recruit?" Kurumi finally returns from her depression.

"Yup! She said 'Meet at the auditorium immediately!'" Izumi said while imitating her friend's tone.

"Ah! G-Got it! Thanks, Izumi-san!" Kurumi said anxiously as she quickly stands up. Before she leaves the class, she quickly approaches Kyros.

"I'm really sorry, Kyros-kun, but I can't show you the academy. There's an urgent meeting and I really have to attend," she apologetically said. The silver-haired boy just smiles and assures her that it's okay despite the setback.

"You can go back by yourself, right?" Kurumi asks.

"Well, I guess so. I can find my way back to the dorm," Kyros answers.

"You sure about that? You sure you're not gonna get lost? You have your keys, right?" Kurumi asks in a more concerned expression.

"Y-Yeah, of course I am! I can take care of it," Kyros reassures.

Kurumi smiles and sighs out of relief. "Glad to hear it. See you at the dorm!" She waves her hand at Kyros as she leaves the class, followed by Izumi.

The new kid waves back at Kurumi.

"Huh, looks like you're getting along well," Rex smirks.

"Huh? W-Wait, it's not what you think it is!" Kyros nervously said as his cheeks start to turn slightly red.

"I didn't say anything," Rex shrugs.

"Say, you got free time?" Rex asks. Kyros shakes his head as a response.

"Why not stick around and check out the clubs? I'll give a little tour of Marahara," Rex said with a smile.

Kyros pauses.

"Sure, I guess that's okay," Kyros finally decides.

"Naegi-san, what about you?" the silver-haired boy turns his attention to Naegi.

"Me?"  
"Yeah, wanna come and join us?"

"Well..." Naegi stops and ponders whether to join or not. Like Kyros, he finds that he has nothing much to do right now. He decides to join them.

Now that they've decided, the boys depart the class with Rex Akamura as their guide.

-/-

The tour has begun for Kyros, Naegi, and Rex.

The boys' first stop is the music room located in the third floor. The light music club – consisting of five girls – performs together by playing the song 'Utauyo! Miracle.' The trio is fascinated to see the girls' performance. They're not the only ones in the club room as there are several; the majority of them are girls.

Marahara Academy has supplied the light music club with various musical instruments such as electric guitars, pianos, basses, and drums.

The club members encourage their visitors to try out their instruments just for fun. Kyros actually does well with the bass while Rex plays the drum. Naegi, on the other hand, doesn't do very well that everyone tells him to stop playing, much to his embarrassment.

Next, the trio visits the Judo club. It's located at the gym near the school building.

There, they find the same cocky girl with light green hair and purple eyes. Everyone, including the girl, wears the traditional judo uniform. She openly welcomes the boys and they're just in time to see an annual match.

The two opponents meet at the ring. One is a Chinese girl. She has blonde hair and tanned skin. Her opponent is the same boy who wears the butler uniform, only now he's wearing the judo uniform.

As soon as the gong is rang, they both fight. Their match is rather intense as they seemingly matched in terms of strength and speed. For every attack they throw, they either dodge or block it.

The visitors are really enjoying the match and tensed to see the winner. Other than Kyros and the other two boys, there are also the short girl with the two long blond pigtails and the ninja girl with her hair held back tightly in a topknot.

However, there is no winner as the match suddenly ends in three minutes. It's only a demonstration for the new students to see.

After the match, both fighters bow in a form of respect.

In the same gym, there's also the basketball club.

Two of the best basketball players are having a friendly match, though one of them treats it as a match instead. That player is the tall, muscular student with the red hair. His opponent is the normal, average-sized boy with short black hair.

The tall basketball player – whose position is Power Forward-Center – is really skilled with rebounding accompanied with his formidable athleticism and combined with his somewhat unorthodox playing style.

However, despite being smaller, his opponent is no joke either. The basketball player, playing the position of Small Forward, is quite the genius and can jump higher than anyone in the basketball team.

The two players do their best with their game as they dribble and rebound the ball from each other. As one player tries to reach for the hoop, one always steal the ball run for the other hoop. There are times they shoot the ball towards the hoop. Not even once they miss, the ball keeps on going through the hoops.

Scores for both players are tied.

Both Kyros and Naegi are impressed with the basketball players' stamina and polished skills. The latter can see that the second basketball player shows that he has fun with the match just by looking at his face. The tall player, on the other hand, is far more determined to win rather than having fun.

The match continues for nearly fifteen minutes.

Afterwards, the trio goes to the basement where the cafeteria is located.

It's just like your everyday cafeteria. There are big tables around with the counter to the front. Behind the counter is the door leading into the kitchen.

Not only the chefs are adults, some of them are actually teenagers like the trio. The best among the younger chefs is a teenaged girl who's very gentle and enjoys cooking very much. In fact, everyone in the academy likes her so much.

The food is varied, ranging from the traditional Japanese delicacies to the Indonesian's food and to Chinese's.

Kyros and Naegi taste some of the food. They openly admit that the food is really good. To their surprise, Rex tells them that the food they just taste are cooked by the said teenage chef. That alone surprised and impressed the new students.

Next, the trio arrives at a classroom in the third floor. It's actually the paranormal club where the frail boy is the club president. Much to Kyros' dismay, the classroom is decorated in a somewhat spooky sense fitting for the paranormal activity.

Unlike most clubs, the paranormal is short on members. They're include the club president, the dowdy boy with the glasses, the short girl in the kimono, and a rich girl who has a huge crush on the supernatural fanatic though she suffers from a split personality.

Having already seen few clubs, Rex decides to take Kyros and Naegi to the district in the other side of the school building; mostly beyond the North Dorm. The district is actually the place for shopping. It's also the place for hanging out and having fun.

The trio sets off to the district.

The entire place is almost like a shopping district, completed with its own malls, shops, and even a local theater.

According to Rex, the academy loans each student his or her own allowances. Everyone gets the same amount of money. They can spend their money whenever they want in the Shopping District. Each student receives the allowance at every beginning of the month.

A student can get extra money by doing part time jobs.

During their visit at the Shopping District, the trio explores the malls, mainly the shops. The district almost have everything; the clothes, accessories, CDs,you name it.

The district also has its own arcade. There, the trio has a little fun with some of the games. They even have the famous light gun games in the house; one of Kyros' favorites.

Rex introduces Kyros and Naegi to an arcade game that utilizes animal cards, which is one of his favorites. It may look childish, but the game is actually very addicting due to its fun gameplay. Kyros and Naegi are immediately hooked with it.

Since the game has two-player mode, the boys can have fun together.

Naegi has a lot of fun playing the game as he uses a large brown bear, but Rex beats him in the game using a Bengal tiger. Fortunately, Naegi does beat Rex in a few matches though the latter still beats the former more.

Kyros, on the other hand, isn't so lucky. The silver-haired boy uses a giant Caucasus beetle, but he barely scores a win. Rex and Naegi beat him up pretty much in the game, much to his dismay.

Next, the boys go to the local theater. To Kyros' and Naegi's surprise, they have most of the current and new movies on the big screen. There are also a few old ones too, dating from 2009 to 2010.

The entire academy is indeed huge. Just how much money did they spent to build such place?

Cash aside, Kyros spends most of his time with his new friends around the academy.

It doesn't take long for the silver-haired boy to remember about his stuffs still unpacked. With that in mind, he bids his new friends goodbye and departs back home.

**West Dorm**

Luckily, Kyros remembers the way back to the West Dorm. It takes nearly an hour to get back from the Shopping District. Quite a long road.

Once he arrives at the dorm, he immediately starts unpacking his stuff. He places most of his clothes at the closet.

He then places action figures on his desk and near the closed window. Most of his action figures are from two famous game series, they're a blue hedgehog moves faster than the speed of sound an Italian plumber.

Next, he unpacks the school materials that his parents have bought for him. He places the books on the desk and its drawers. He also puts his favorite digital clock on the desk. More importantly, he puts the picture of his family on it.

By tomorrow, the real school day starts.

Unfortunately, it was an exhausting day. Having to attend the opening ceremony early in the morning and a long tour on the academy, it did a number on him.

Kyros, in his white T-Shirt and short pants, immediately jumps to bed.

"What a day..." he utters. Although he hasn't finished unpack his stuffs, he promises that he'll finish his work after a little rest.

…

He falls asleep pretty fast...

**-/-/-/-**

…

"W-What?"

As soon as Kyros opens his eyes, he finds that he's not in his room. The silver-haired boy is in a huge room covered in blue. The back wall is chain-link, displaying that the room seems to be moving upward like an elevator. It also has a large clock with the hands continuously spinning. Kyros also discovers that he's seated on a comfy chair.

He soon discovers that he's not alone...

Kyros finds an old man with a long nose and a beautiful young lady in blue across a short, round table...

"Welcome to the Velvet Room..."

-/-

"Ah, it appears we have a guest with an intriguing destiny," the bizarre old man chuckles. "It has been many years since we've had a guest."

"My name is _**Igor**_. I am delighted to make your acquaintance," the man introduces to Kyros in a delightful manner.

"This is _**Elizabeth**_," the bizarre-looking man, Igor, gestures his hand toward the young lady. "She's a resident here, like myself."

"Pleased to meet you," she smiles.

Kyros is spooked by the bizarre event. The presence of the two mysterious individuals only makes him feel even more unnerving. There's something about them that shivers the silver-haired boy. Is he dreaming? Is this for real?

"Do not be alarmed, you're not in danger. Just relax," Igor said to Kyros with his smile intact.

Taking the advice in, Kyros calms down as he breathes slowly. He then turns his head around to look at the bizarre room. Very ominous, as he thought.

"So... What is this place?" he then asks.

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter," Igor explains cryptically.

"Dream?"

"Precisely. You are fast asleep in the real world as we speak. This visit of yours is merely a dream. However, you will come here of your own accord, sooner or later."

The bizarre old man suddenly waves his hand around. A notebook suddenly appears in the table. "H-Hey, is that..." Kyros immediately recognizes the notebook as the same one from last night when he met the mysterious little boy. The notebook suddenly flips open itself, revealing the 'contract' that Kyros had signed.

"Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place... Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so. For the coming year, a great calamity will soon befall upon your world. If nothing is done, your future and your world will be forever lost," Igor explains cryptically.

Calamity?

What is he talking about?

"Our duty is to make sure that does not happen. However, I only ask one thing in return for our help... You must assume responsibility for the choices that you make, as you are abide by the contract," the old man, Igor, adds.

"I... I don't understand," Kyros said with a befuddled look on his face. "What 'power?' What kind of disaster are you talking about?"

"I see," Igor said while maintaining his delightful manner and his grin, "That is fine, for now. Until the time comes."

"Hold on to this," Igor waves his hand again. A key engulfed in soft, blue light suddenly appear in front of Kyros' eyes. It then descends onto his hands.

"'Til we meet again..."

**-/-/-/-**

"W-What?!"

Kyros quickly gets up. He finds that he's now back in his bedroom.

The silver-haired boy turns around and glances at his digital clock on his desk. It's 7 o'clock in the evening.

"_What... What was that just now..._" Kyros sits on his bed, confused by the recent events.

He ponders over the encounter with the mysterious boy last night. He thought that it was just a hallucination since he was very tired from that time. After that 'dream' in the 'Velvet Room,' he's convinced that his encounter was no hallucination at all.

"_What is going on_," he thought.

Questions blur his mind...

**School Building**

Meanwhile, at the faculty office...

The child teacher, Negi Springfield, is at his desk.

The office looks neat, it pretty much resembles those from other school. It's quite big too since there are many teachers in the academy.

Each desk has some items that people may find it interesting.

On Negi's desk, there is a pack of cards that's placed side down; each has a portrait of a magic rune circle with a pentagram on it. On the desk next to Negi's, there is a neat figure of Sazabi.

Placed next to the desk with the Sazabi figurine on it, there are two more desks. A black kimono – with white undergarment underneath and white colored coats on it – is dangled on the chair. There is a small figurine of a black cat on the next desk.

To the opposite side of Negi's desk, there are a few more desks.

One desk has a figurine of a motor bike and the desk next to it has a figurine of a feather quill with a symbol that appears to be a heart.

The next desk has a picture of Mutsuki with her family, including a teenager whom she sees as a son.

While Negi appears to be making preparation for tomorrow, he's actually looking at some news articles. All of them show abnormal activities of various people. Not a pretty sight.

Suddenly, Haruhi enters the faculty office.

"You call, chibiko?" Haruhi approaches Negi.

"Umm... Haruhi-san, I think you need to see this," Negi then hands over one of the articles to Haruhi. After reading bits of the article, Haruhi's usual cheerful look becomes rather serious.

"Again?"

"Yeah. People who had no problems before are suddenly developing acute cases of Apathy Syndrome. They've been in the news quite often lately. They all say it's due to stress, but..."

"I know, it has to be 'them,'" Haruhi said to her teacher. "I'll check it out right away. I'll bring Kurumi-san too."

"Okay, please be careful," Negi said in a concerned expression.

Haruhi merely smiles before giving the child teacher a thumbs-up. She then leaves the faculty room.

* * *

_March 27, 2012  
Tuesday  
__-1 day until Full Moon-_

**School Building**

First day of school...

Likewise, being a new kid is really tough. One has to get used with the new environment and the school rules.

Marahara is no less different.

Class starts exactly at 8 o'clock in the morning and finishes at 3.

For Class 2-C, today's subjects are Japanese classics (taught by Mutsuki-sensei), history (taught by Yukiji-sensei), and math (taught by Becky-sensei).

Few hours have passed until school is over.

Even as a first day of school, it's still harsh as ever. Math has to be the worst.

Kyros soon exits the school building. The empty field outside has little students. The teenager who bears resemblance to Kurumi is resting at the bench. The frail boy is posting his paranormal club's ad on the wall. Lastly, the girls from the light music club are talking nearby.

Accompanied by the sakura petals falling from the trees and a breeze wind blows by, it creates a stunning atmosphere for the school ground.

As soon Kyros he's close to the gate, he notices a pair of girls talking. He manages to overhear their conversation.

"Did you hear the rumor?"  
"You mean with that damped kitchen?"

"No! Not that one! I mean the one about the first-year student's big brother! Not only her brother stop coming to Hakumo High, he does nothing but sit and stare at the walls all day! If her mother tries to talk to him, he only mutters to himself, 'It's coming... It's coming!'"

"Seriously? That's kinda creepy," the listening student shudders.

The girls then leave the gate, heading for the northern district.

That certainly gains Kyros' interest.

Before he has time to ponder over this rumor, Naegi arrives at the gate from the school building.

"Kyros-san, you're going home already?" Naegi asks.  
"Well, yeah. I still need to tune my place. It's gonna take until night," Kyros answers.

"But really... I'm actually surprised that we're at the same dorm," the silver-haired boy said with a smile.

The teenager with the ahoge hair nods enthusiastically. "I don't know if it's a coincidence or just pure luck," he chuckles.

"Probably my luck again," Naegi suddenly utters.

"'scuse me?" Kyros asks with his right eyebrow raised.

"N-Nothing!" Naegi quickly said.

The pair soon begins to walk slowly out of the gate. They're heading their way back to the West Dorm.

"Say, wanna walk home together? I can probably help out with your room," Naegi suddenly asks.

"Sure," Kyros said bluntly.

**West Dorm**

Upon arrival, Kyros and Naegi stumble Kurumi in the quarters.

Kurumi isn't alone either. The old dean is also in the quarters.

"There he is," Kurumi said.

"Ah, you must be the new students," Konoemon said toward Kyros and Naegi. The dean and the plain girl then stand up.

Kyros and Naegi are prompted to join the two and seat with them. They do so.

"Good afternoon," the boys said in unison.

"Good afternoon to you too. I'm sure you both know our names by now," the old dean said.

The boys nod simultaneously. "Dean Konoemon, is it?"

"So what brings you here, sir?" Kyros asks.

"To welcome you, of course," Konoemon immediately answers.

"That includes you as well, young man," Konoemon suddenly points at Naegi, much to the latter's surprise.

"Your background intrigues me. Even though you're not from a rich family, you manage to enter when you win that lottery."

"I-It's nothing, really," Naegi said humbly, feeling rather flattered. "You could say it's just luck. My family was surprised and happy that we now have tons of money. My parents recommended me to study here. I couldn't possibly pass such an opportunity."

"Do you like it here?" Konoemon asks.

"First impression? Yes, I do like it here. It's a little harder from my old school, but I believe I can do it," Naegi answers optimistically.

Kurumi stares at Naegi in awe, impressed with the seemingly plain boy. That's truly pure luck.

The old dean turns his attention to Kyros.

"I'm quite intrigued with your scores from the qualification exams. It's not just you scored one of the highest, it's your background as well," Konoemon explains.

Kyros retains his calm expression.

"So tell me, what do you think with Marahara Academy?" the old dean then asks.

"It's just my first day, but from what I've seen so far, I think it's great," Kyros answers bluntly.

Kurumi glances at the silver-haired boy. From what she has seen so far about him, she thinks Kyros is normal. She begins to think that he's probably the same as her, in terms of plainness.

The old dean chuckles out of delight.

"Glad to hear from the both of you. I hope you two have a successful school year," Dean Konoemon stands up from his seat, "You both must be tired from all the excitement. You should get some rest early. Now if you excuse me."

Afterwards, the old dean leaves the dorm.

"He seems to be a nice person," Naegi compliments their dean. Kyros nods.

-/-

Kyros and Naegi immediately go to the former's room, number 216.

Once there, the boys begin to tune up the room. With an extra help, the silver-haired boy is able to add the finishing touch for his new room. It's livelier than before with the addition a few more action figures and posters.

He's got a few interesting ones. One includes a young man in crimson armor doing a pose. Alongside the man are two interesting characters, an elf girl and a cloaked thief. The background is a Medieval kingdom shrouded in thick fog as an enormous floating airship emerging in the sky. The title, 'Radiant Legends: The Lost Kingdom,' is imprinted below.

As soon as they're done, they notice that it's already at night 8 o'clock sharp. It's exactly as planned.

Naegi pardons himself. Kyros learns that his new friend's room is also in this very floor. Naegi's room, number 208, is located just nearby. If that's not a coincidence, then it must be fate.

With that said, Naegi returns to his room.

A few hours have passed, evening has caught on. Nearly everyone in the West Dorm is fast asleep, including the new students. There are students who are still awake because they have other works to finish.

Kyros is already at bed, sleeping soundly.

However...

-/-

Unbeknown to everyone in the dorm, there's a mysterious room hidden somewhere in the said dorm. It appears to be a control room of some sort as there are a pair of computers stationed in and countless of monitors on the front. Each monitor records footage of different locations of the academy, including the gate and the school building.

There are three people in the control room.

One of them is monitoring the screens, mainly at Kyros' bedroom. For the others, they examine the computers. One of the pair is doing the work, tapping on several keyboards for database.

Suddenly, two more people enter the room.

"Working hard?" one of them asks. Surprisingly, they're none other than the dean Konoemon and Char Aznable.

"So how is he doing?" Char asks.

"He went to bed not too long ago," the one watching the monitors suddenly said. He is actually Negi Springfield.

"Is this really okay?" one of the two figures at the computers then said to the dean. The two figures are actually Kurumi and Haruhi. The former is the one who does the work.

"Somehow... I just don't feel right," Kurumi voices her doubt.

"But really, do you really think he's..." Haruhi turns her attention to the monitor that shows Kyros' bedroom. Her eyes are set on the seemingly plain boy.

"Well, why don't we wait and see?" Konoemon suggests.

Char then looks at his watch, noticing it's almost midnight. "The Dark Hour is approaching."

-X-

At the same time, outside the academy...

Several people are roaming across the city street. This time, it's more crowded than usual.

At one of the crowded apartment, a group of friends are having a party like crazy. They drink a lot while occasionally having snacks. They also turn on some J-Pop music they dance to.

A young man in a blue shirt and green vest looks at the clock nearby and notices that it's nearing midnight. The man appears to have red hair that's spiked upward and short goatee.

As soon as it hits 12, the night sky suddenly turns green, even the half-full moon. That is not all, however. Everyone, including those in the apartment party, has turned into coffins. However, only one doesn't turned... It is the man in the blue shirt and green vest.

"W-What the hell?!" the man shrieks upon seeing his friends turned into coffins. Disturbingly, there are spills on the floor that appear to be blood. That alone creeps the man.

Before the man can even react to the unusual situation, black fluid seems to flow out of his head.

Within a second, the man screams in horror...

\-\-I-/-/

**End of Chapter**

A/N: The mystery deepens as piece by piece of the puzzle goes unfold. We're also introduced to Igor and Elizabeth, the characters from the Persona series. The next chapter will focus on the mysterious 'Dark Hour' and a certain element that is the key to the entire story.

Can you guess the characters that make their cameo appearances?

So far, the characters that make their debut in this chapter are:  
- _**Rex Akamura**_, the OC of my best friend, _Vastler75_  
- _**Haruhi Suzumiya**_, the main character from her series, **The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya**  
- _**Makoto Naegi**_, the main character from **Dangan Ronpa**.  
- _**Himeko Katagiri**_, one of the main characters from **Pani Poni**, and Kurumi's friend  
- _**Izumi Segawa**_, one of the Hakuou Three Amiga from **Hayate no Gotoku**  
- _**Miki Hanabishi**_, one of the Hakuou Three Amiga from **Hayate no Gotoku**  
- _**Risa Asakaze**_, one of the Hakuou Three Amiga from **Hayate no Gotoku**  
- **Konoemon Konoe**, the dean from **Mahou Sensei Negima!**  
- _**Negi Springfield**_, the main character from **Mahou Sensei Negima!**  
- _**Eikichi Onizuka**_, the main character from **GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka)**  
- _**Kurogane**_, one of the main characters from **Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles**  
- _**Rebecca Miyamoto**_, nicknamed Becky and the main character from **Pani Poni**  
- _**Yukiji Katsura**_, the teacher from **Hayate no Gotoku**  
- _**Kisuke Urahara**_, the Shinigami from **Bleach**  
- _**Mutsuki Ichimonji**_, one of the main characters and teacher from **Happy Lesson**  
- _**Kisaragi Ninomai**_, a mysterious, odd character from **Happy Lesson**  
- _**Char Aznable**_, the famous character from **Mobile Suit Gundam**  
- _**Yoruichi Shiōin**_, the beautiful Shinigami from **Bleach**  
- _**Tomo Takino**_, the hyperactive character from **Azumanga Daioh**

P.S.  
This chapter also pays tribute to _EmissaryX_, a good friend and fellow fanfic writer.

**-X-**

**Preview**

That child... That room... Could they all be connected?

Tonight is even more disturbing... As we come face-to-face with 'them' and the truth behind the recent abnormality.

Next chapter: **The Dark Hour**.


End file.
